Essay On The Human Language In Emma Flaubert's Emma Bovary

The human language is incomplete and we lack adequate words the express the incomparable richness of our inner thoughts. Flaubert perceives this idea when observing Emma Bovary proclaim the intensity of her love to Rodolphe stating, “Human speech is like a cracked tin kettle, on which we hammer out tunes to make bears dance when we long to move the stars.” (Flaubert 134) Flaubert compares human speech to that of a “cracked tin kettle”, implying that similar to how a cracked kettle would be unable to properly function, the human language is incapable of properly functioning as well. The deficiencies of the human language unables us to be able to clearly express our thoughts and emotions through words. Flaubert continues this analogy by stating “on which we hammer out tunes to make bears dance when we long to move the stars.” Flaubert’s use of contradiction, our desire to be able to reach out to the stars yet we are only able to make mere bears dance, expresses the inadequacy of human speech. Flaubert expresses the frequent miscommunication that human language results in through this contradiction, as the use of the kettle strays far from its intention. …show more content…
In this scene specifically, after Emma professes her love to Rodolphe, Rodolphe believes it to be a mere facade. Emma’s words strike him as unoriginal as he heard it many times before from his past mistresses and her “exaggerated speeches hiding mediocre affections” only adds to his ignorance of Emma’s true feelings. This scene truly showcases the faults of human speech, as Emma’s inability to portray her affection for Rodolphe, is what separates them